Chapter 178: Begging (1)
Ren took the ID card from Viktor and made his way down a hidden, slender corridor. To his surprise, the inside space was far more expansive than he’d anticipated. It was spotlessly clean, neatly organized, and utterly breathtaking. This immense space, tucked away high up in the Tower, lay almost directly under the Queen’s palace.
Stepping out of the hidden doorway, he was met with a curved, extended hallway. The walls gleamed a pure white, bathed in the glow of overhead lights, with soft melodies floating in the air. Lining both sides of this corridor were vibrant children’s rooms, bursting with toys. The whole setting reminded him of a children’s school or nursery.
If it weren’t for a note from Luther, Ren would’ve been completely unaware of this concealed world existing so high up within the Tower.
Indeed, only at the Tower’s peak, where only a handful could reach its many levels, could such a sprawling secret be safely tucked away from wandering eyes. It gave off the vibes of a covert base nestled inside the Tower – vast, hidden, and silently nurturing something.
With his sharp ears, Ren caught the faint sounds of chatter and breathing, lively tones suggesting they belonged to kids.
The hallway wrapped around in a circle and extended upwards. Delving further, Ren spotted young kids inhabiting this space. To his surprise, the kids here were all betas.
Ren tread lightly, making sure he remained unnoticed. He controlled his emotions and psychic energy shifts, ensuring absolute silence.
He was a trained warrior, adept at masking his psychic emissions. And after spending time with Kestrel, under the sway of Kestrel’s dominant psychic forces, he had honed this skill even further.
Yet, these children were unusually sharp. As he drew nearer, every so often, a child would shoot a speculative look his way, trying to spot where Ren hid. This meant he had to be even more careful, pausing now and then, keeping low, and waiting for the kids to be distracted once more.
It puzzled him. "Why is there such a facility, nurturing countless children, secretly situated at the Tower’s pinnacle?" He remembered hearing stories of betas residing at the beta academy situated at the Tower’s base.
This place wasn’t short of amenities. Gardens burst with vibrant flowers, playgrounds were adorned beautifully, and caring, gentle educators looked after the kids. The expressions on most of the kids’ faces were of genuine happiness and glee.
There was soothing music, radiant blooms, simulated sunlight, immaculate walls, compassionate instructors, and children’s merry laughter. The entire place felt as enchanting as a fairytale land.
Ren couldn’t help but ponder why such a serene spot was discreetly placed atop the Tower, accessible solely with the ID cards of a very exclusive circle of royals.
Had Ren not completely crushed Viktor’s round head, he might have been tempted to pry it open and demand answers.
Among the jovial kids, Ren spotted a face he recognized – it was the girl who once delivered coal to his residence, the one who later differentiated into a beta.
The little girl, who appeared to be around six or seven, had transformed. No longer covered in grime and appearing frail, her face was now spotless, her hair neatly arranged in twin braids, and she was adorned in a lovely white dress. She was seated in a corner, cradling a doll given to her by a teacher.
Yet, unlike her peers, she wasn’t lost in joyous play. Her lightly freckled face was stoic. She followed the teacher’s instructions with a mechanical precision, displaying a maturity unexpected for her age.
At one instance, as Ren discreetly watched, her gaze turned icy and sharp, piercing directly to where he was concealed. Her eyes, fierce and intense, contradicted her tender years.
Ren averted his eyes and tuned his ears, but only silence met him. Even though she had unmistakably seen him, she chose not to raise an alarm.
He could still recall the day she was taken. To protect her ailing grandfather, she’d concealed her differentiation into a beta. But when she returned, she was met with the heart-wrenching scene of her grandfather’s lifeless body in their dim, cramped room.
Ren had later scrutinized the dwelling. The grandfather’s demise was no accident but a sinister act – someone had deployed the cruelest of means to ensure the girl’s compliance in moving to the Tower.
It was a shock to Ren to find her here, realizing that this lone child, without family or kin, hadn’t been dispatched to the beta academy upon her arrival at the Tower. Instead, she had been secretly housed here.
It was becoming clear that the esteemed Tower, the revered emblem of the Empire, had its fair share of hidden mysteries.
Determined, Ren ventured further into this sprawling expanse.
Luther’s note had outlined this area’s layout, indicating that it held the Queen’s sole attention. It was only if this sanctuary were breached that the Queen might be drawn out from her palace.
While the outer regions buzzed with activity, the innermost sanctum stood in stark silence, its heart being a circular courtyard.
Here, all hues were absent, leaving only a stark white. The walls, columns, and grounds gleamed like polished jade, unsullied and pristine, emanating a strange, haunting aura of holiness.
In a hidden spot, Ren unsheathed the dark longsword he had been carrying.
Wanting to keep his identity a secret, he had left behind his unique red blade and picked this shadowy sword from a collection in the house. This sword was wide, its blade shimmering coldly, making it appear as a very sharp, typical weapon. However, the moment Ren plunged it into the earth, a handful of eerily real eyes blinked open on the blade.
These eyes blinked and moved, glancing around the blade, and then began to speak in a weird, high-pitched tone, "Hey, you sure about using me?"
Ren shot the sword a brief look, signaling his resolve.
"That lady is pretty scary; I’m not thrilled about facing her either."
"What do you want in return?" Ren inquired, his voice steady.
